A young Pembrokeshire Boccia player has drawn closer to his ambition of representing Great Britain at the Paralympics in 2012.
GB Boccia has just announced the next phase of their Talent Search for potential players to represent the country in 2012 and Jacob Thomas has made the cut.
The 15 year old from Bethesda is one of two Welsh players to progress to the World Class Transition squad.
Jacob, who attends Ysgol y Preseli, has only been playing boccia – a form of boules – for five years but has already represented Wales on several occasions.
Angela Miles, Disability Sport Development Officer for Sport Pembrokeshire – Pembrokeshire County Council’s sports development arm – welcomed the news.
“It’s Jacob’s dream to attend the Paralympics and this news shows that he is well on his way,” she said.
“Jacob is an outstanding sportsman with many sporting achievements already under his belt.”
The Great Britain Boccia Federation is currently involved in a significant Talent Search and Talent Development Programme that has been centred around the country’s requirements for the 2012 London Paralympics.
The programme objectives are to unearth and help develop talented players with the potential to either take their place in Team GB for the Home Paralympics and/or bolster the strength of the GB Boccia squad and selection pool for those Games.
They have been doing this in partnership with UK Sport and their Paralympic Potential Programme; Paralympics GB; and the three Home Country organisations.
After an intense confirmation period that included five residential camps at the University of Bath and the Czech International Open Competition in Prague, selections have now been made for players to pass on to the Transition phase of the Programme.
This Transition Period will involve a joint Camp with the GB Elite players in July; a multisport Paralympics GB Camp in August; a Fast Track Camp in October; and the British Championships, also in October.
Final selection to the GB Boccia Programme for 2012 is expected to take place during the week beginning November 1st.
